Here is the link to my new blog.
The View from Room 125
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The time has come...
This particular blog has run its course. I am going to abandon it for a time. But, it has hooked me on wanting to blog more frequently, so I am going to start a new one. If anyone is reading this and is interested in following me to a new place, I'd welcome the company. I will post once more after this to give the new address(es) of my new blog(s).
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Last Chance Before Deadline
Teachers' Tools for the 21st Century
A Nation Online
The online writing classroom / edited by Susanmarie Harrington, Rebecca Rickly, Michael Day.
Location: Auburn RBD Library (3rd Floor)
Call Number: PE 1404 .O45 2000
A Nation Online
The online writing classroom / edited by Susanmarie Harrington, Rebecca Rickly, Michael Day.
Location: Auburn RBD Library (3rd Floor)
Call Number: PE 1404 .O45 2000
Monday, June 18, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
Questionnaire
I finally got the questionnaire I wanted for CE teachers written and posted to about 12 people I know who teach a web-based class. Here it is:
I have already gotten a partial response from one of the people I emailed. I am hopeful that I can get some more responses before the end of the weekend. The hard part about that is that it is the end of the school year in much of the country. Sure, I am out of school, but in some places this is the last week. Or next week is--or any week through the end of June apparently. I feel bad about asking these people to give up some of their time to help me out. In fact, that is part of the reason it took me so long to make myself write the darn thing. I am also considering posting it to the engteach-talk listserv. That could potentially catch people whose email addresses I couldn't find. There is a list (a little out of date, but a list) of teachers who have a web presence on Ted's site. I know a lot of the teachers there from the listserv. I am pretty sure that Ted has been as big an inspiration to them as he has to me. He seems to be the father of the movement.
Hi,
I am asking for your help. I am taking a graduate English course on technology and writing. As I have recently entered into a web-based, cyberEnglish model of teaching writing in my classroom, I thought I'd do a case study on that and on the ce movement in general. As you are a ce teacher, I was hoping you might be able to take a few minutes and answer some questions. I would really appreciate it as I need all teh first hand information I can get.
How do you define ce?
Why did you decide to implement this strategy in your classroom?
What difficulties did you encounter in setting up and running a ce classroom?
What are the advantages of ce?
What are the disadvantages of ce?
Any other comments on ce that you would like to make.
What is your website URL?
I know this is a very busy time of year. If you are not able to answer these questions, I totally understand.
Thank you.
I have already gotten a partial response from one of the people I emailed. I am hopeful that I can get some more responses before the end of the weekend. The hard part about that is that it is the end of the school year in much of the country. Sure, I am out of school, but in some places this is the last week. Or next week is--or any week through the end of June apparently. I feel bad about asking these people to give up some of their time to help me out. In fact, that is part of the reason it took me so long to make myself write the darn thing. I am also considering posting it to the engteach-talk listserv. That could potentially catch people whose email addresses I couldn't find. There is a list (a little out of date, but a list) of teachers who have a web presence on Ted's site. I know a lot of the teachers there from the listserv. I am pretty sure that Ted has been as big an inspiration to them as he has to me. He seems to be the father of the movement.
Quote from Ted
Why CyberEnglish
Cyber English addresses how we change our classroom practices as teachers to make education more effective and better for all. It is constructivism. It is a response to demands by society to engage in the educational paradigm shifts and to get beyond the status quo. Cyber English is "out of the box" thinking and practice. Cyber English is the blend of technology and humanities, a paradox, oxymoron. It taps into the future work and lving environment of technology with old world humanities. Cyber English allows me to practice my pedagogical theories which will emerge as I present my practice via student work, my own published writings, observations by others, and from my presentations. Perhaps the most important reason for Cyber English is that it puts the process of learning in the hands of the learner and allows the teacher to teach and guide them and watch them learn how to learn and have fun doing it. And of course the greatest reward is reading their webpages which bear out my correct assumptions about why Cyber English is so important. One final note about its importance is that during the years I taught this course in a NYC public high school of 3200 students, I consistently had the highest attendance rate in the school and more 100% attendance days than other classes each of those years. That helps me understand why Cyber English was so important.
from from CyberEnglish: The Practice :Introduction
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
From Ted Nellen's web
from CyberEnglish: The Practice :Introduction
This is a concise way to look at the beginnings of the basic concepts. It is essentially constructivist in viewpoint. As a longtime NWP fellow (as well as a graduate in English Ed at AU), I am essentially a constuctivist type of guy. This folds in neatly with my view of education and what it should be.
Many things started to happen that would become major buiding blocks for CyberEnglish. First, division of labor and breaking from the "everyone works at same pace and on same project industrial style of education" as I had the students in two groups working on two different tasks. Second was the beginning of digitizing everything. Thirdly was the beginnings of peer review as students began viewing other student's work as it was being devleoped rather than upon completion. Finally, we were publishing the students' work.
This is a concise way to look at the beginnings of the basic concepts. It is essentially constructivist in viewpoint. As a longtime NWP fellow (as well as a graduate in English Ed at AU), I am essentially a constuctivist type of guy. This folds in neatly with my view of education and what it should be.
Working the Web for Education
Working the Web for Education
I like this quote. It strikes me that this is an issue with using the web in the class as a foundation for the curriculum. Too many teachers I know are only interested in the web for the "neat stuff" they can find and use out there. And this is a valid use of the web for teachers. But if that is all it is, if they only use it with students as a resource to send them to specific sites, then the use of the web in the class loses much of its power, I think. The real power with a web-based class is that it allows the students to have a voice.
I also think it is important to teach the students ways to navigate on the web and make it work for them. I need to do more of that. But if they can't learn how to organize their own little webworlds, they are going to be at a disadvantage.
Books entitled such things as "Explore the Unleashed World Wide Web in 7 Days for Dummies/Educators" list tens of thousands of "Killer Web sites," implicitly suggesting that once you get a handle on these you'll have "done" the Web. But this is akin to getting access to the Library of Congress and being handed a piece of paper listing someone's Top Ten Favorite Books. Oh yes, and the library's collection doubles in size every three months. So, it's not the titles that are needed, it's the structure, the organization, the forest for the trees.
I like this quote. It strikes me that this is an issue with using the web in the class as a foundation for the curriculum. Too many teachers I know are only interested in the web for the "neat stuff" they can find and use out there. And this is a valid use of the web for teachers. But if that is all it is, if they only use it with students as a resource to send them to specific sites, then the use of the web in the class loses much of its power, I think. The real power with a web-based class is that it allows the students to have a voice.
I also think it is important to teach the students ways to navigate on the web and make it work for them. I need to do more of that. But if they can't learn how to organize their own little webworlds, they are going to be at a disadvantage.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Serendipity?
Last night I was adding the books I've finished from class onto my list of books at Library Thing. Well, when I hit the social button, I found that anywhere from 13-20 some odd people had listed those books as well. I went that page and found there were a number of other titles that could work with this class.
I am not sure this link will work if you aren't already a member of library thing. But it is worth joining.
Then when I got up today it sort of hit me that this could be a new research tool. Looking at the social pages in library thing could yield books on the topics I want to research I might not have thought of myself. I am going to try this after I finish my reading and post to the discussion board.
I am not sure this link will work if you aren't already a member of library thing. But it is worth joining.
Then when I got up today it sort of hit me that this could be a new research tool. Looking at the social pages in library thing could yield books on the topics I want to research I might not have thought of myself. I am going to try this after I finish my reading and post to the discussion board.
Figured it out
Well, I have figured out why I had such trouble creating links before. Apparently the link button does not show up on the Safari browser I was using. When I switched to Firefox, there it was. Now I know.
Wednesday Morning Musings
I found an article in Kairos that might be useful
Learning to Write: Learning about Sustainability
At the same time I think I see a direction to go in. Not just using computers in the classroom, but the whole idea of web-based writing instruction. What are the advantages/disadvantages to that idea? In retrospect it is obvious, but I have let myself go offtrack. I need to get back to the idea I want to work with. Is web-based writing instruction going to help my students to become better writers?
I'm thinking of a survey that I can send to teachers who are using the web for instruction. That kind of primary data is important. And now that I am thinking along these lines, I am also thinking beyond this class. Is this a paper I could publish? Where? Kairos?
Why am I putting the cart before the horse?
Learning to Write: Learning about Sustainability
At the same time I think I see a direction to go in. Not just using computers in the classroom, but the whole idea of web-based writing instruction. What are the advantages/disadvantages to that idea? In retrospect it is obvious, but I have let myself go offtrack. I need to get back to the idea I want to work with. Is web-based writing instruction going to help my students to become better writers?
I'm thinking of a survey that I can send to teachers who are using the web for instruction. That kind of primary data is important. And now that I am thinking along these lines, I am also thinking beyond this class. Is this a paper I could publish? Where? Kairos?
Why am I putting the cart before the horse?
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Print Sources
This has been more difficult and more onerous than I had anticipated. I tried several different keyword searches that did not yield the results I was hoping for. So I just kept on trying different combinations of ideas until I had enough to start searching the library for.
I have also realized that I have the distinct problem of no student ID. Therefore anything I find today, I will need to put back where I can find it again next time, after obtaining said ID.
I'll start with a book titled _Engaged in Learning: Teachihng English, 6-12_ by Kathleen and James Strickland. There is a chapter titled "Computers, Websites, and Technology. I started to skim the chapter and found that thry are asking many of the same types of questions we have been raising in class. What is the role of technology in Education? One idea they propose is that we start with the question "What is it for?" and go from there. This is definitely a resource I will want to come back to later and check out for a much closer reading.
I also found an article in an _English Journal_ from November 2004. The title is "CyberEnglish" and the authors are Dawn Hogue, Ted Nellen, Nancy G. Patterson, and Patricia Schultze. Interestingly enough the theme of this issue was "Subversive English." The article is a Q & A. Various questions on cyberEnglish are posed and then answered by each of the four. They have a great many insights into moving to a web-based English program. I will be using this article as I work on the paper. These four are very active in promoting the concept. Additionally, I know each of them so can write to them and seek further information.
I found the book _Sustainable Computer Environments_ by Richard J. Selfe. I think this is more directed at post-secondary education, but it is still a book I want to check out and read at more length. There are sections on setting up a digital classroom and setting up the pedogogy that go with them. I looked at the references in the book and was disappointed to find many that are over ten years old. I hope that in reading the book, I find the ideas are not similarly out of date.
I am also interested in checking out the book _Technology and English Studies: Innovative Professional Paths_ edited by James A. Inman and Beth L. Hewett. This is a collection of essays by professionals who have used tech in an English class environment. Again, it seems mainly post-secondary, but it could be very useful. I find a great deal to be learned by reading first-hand accounts. I know I can't use all of them, just by a glance at the titles of the essays, but there is enough here to warrant further research.
I think that I desperately need to get to campus early Thursday morning and get myself an ID made so that I can start making more use of the library. It has been about ten years since I spent any real time in RBD and I hardly recognize the place. I need to become familiar with it again.
I have also realized that I have the distinct problem of no student ID. Therefore anything I find today, I will need to put back where I can find it again next time, after obtaining said ID.
I'll start with a book titled _Engaged in Learning: Teachihng English, 6-12_ by Kathleen and James Strickland. There is a chapter titled "Computers, Websites, and Technology. I started to skim the chapter and found that thry are asking many of the same types of questions we have been raising in class. What is the role of technology in Education? One idea they propose is that we start with the question "What is it for?" and go from there. This is definitely a resource I will want to come back to later and check out for a much closer reading.
I also found an article in an _English Journal_ from November 2004. The title is "CyberEnglish" and the authors are Dawn Hogue, Ted Nellen, Nancy G. Patterson, and Patricia Schultze. Interestingly enough the theme of this issue was "Subversive English." The article is a Q & A. Various questions on cyberEnglish are posed and then answered by each of the four. They have a great many insights into moving to a web-based English program. I will be using this article as I work on the paper. These four are very active in promoting the concept. Additionally, I know each of them so can write to them and seek further information.
I found the book _Sustainable Computer Environments_ by Richard J. Selfe. I think this is more directed at post-secondary education, but it is still a book I want to check out and read at more length. There are sections on setting up a digital classroom and setting up the pedogogy that go with them. I looked at the references in the book and was disappointed to find many that are over ten years old. I hope that in reading the book, I find the ideas are not similarly out of date.
I am also interested in checking out the book _Technology and English Studies: Innovative Professional Paths_ edited by James A. Inman and Beth L. Hewett. This is a collection of essays by professionals who have used tech in an English class environment. Again, it seems mainly post-secondary, but it could be very useful. I find a great deal to be learned by reading first-hand accounts. I know I can't use all of them, just by a glance at the titles of the essays, but there is enough here to warrant further research.
I think that I desperately need to get to campus early Thursday morning and get myself an ID made so that I can start making more use of the library. It has been about ten years since I spent any real time in RBD and I hardly recognize the place. I need to become familiar with it again.
Oiks!
Been a busy week. Closed down my classroom (mainly). Got all my required paperwork for the year complete (for the most part). Spent time with my family. I don't think Molly will need that picture to remind her who I am for a while now.
I have been remiss in my research. Here is one place I plan to go to Cyber Englsih: The Practice. It is a site created by Ted Nellen and used for his cyber-Englsih classes. It also has links to the philosophy and practice of ce as well as numerous links to the websites of teachers who use ce to some degree or another in their classes. I really meant to do more reading on this over the long weekend. Best laid plans and all.
And now to work.
I have been remiss in my research. Here is one place I plan to go to Cyber Englsih: The Practice. It is a site created by Ted Nellen and used for his cyber-Englsih classes. It also has links to the philosophy and practice of ce as well as numerous links to the websites of teachers who use ce to some degree or another in their classes. I really meant to do more reading on this over the long weekend. Best laid plans and all.
And now to work.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
My Research Topic
I am fascinated by the use of computers in English/writing classes. I am slowly taking my writing classes to a 100% web-based strategy. All assignments, course descriptions, syllaweb, etc. online. All (or almost all) student work to be posted online. What kind of impact will this have on the way English, more specifically writing, is taught? Will it allow for more student choice? Will it allow more time for the teacher to act as a coach?
I am still in the groping phase of my research process. I am looking for good ideas to glue themselves to the amorphous mass that is my general idea. If anyone has any questions that might help me figure this out for myself, please feel free to ask.
And I thank you in advance. =0)
I am still in the groping phase of my research process. I am looking for good ideas to glue themselves to the amorphous mass that is my general idea. If anyone has any questions that might help me figure this out for myself, please feel free to ask.
And I thank you in advance. =0)
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